Cooking Grates

Better to Buy Stainless Cooking Grates for Bbq Grills

Cooking grates come in different types and materials, and each has its own advantages, depending on its use and the preference of the cook. Grill grates hold your food when you are barbecuing or grilling. So let us take a look at the choices available when it comes to outdoor cooking grates.

When it comes to popularity, cast iron grates seem to be the choice. The heavier wide cast iron grates can hold heat for a long time and cook evenly. As a result, you get well seared, quickly cooked food. The only problem with cast iron grill grates is maintenance. Apart from the regular cleaning, for more details visit to www.apples-recipes.com you must ensure that cast iron grills are well seasoned before you use them and this must be done periodically even when they are in regular use. They do come with manufacturers instructions on how to season them. While it is not a difficult task to season them, neglecting to do it can result in rust. If you do keep them well seasoned, cast iron can be as good as nonstick grates and appear to last longer than a lifetime.

A better option, if you want the advantage of longer heat but not the associated maintenance hassle with cast iron, you can opt for porcelain coated cast iron grates. These combine the quality of durability, as well as avoid the problem of rust as long as the porcelain coating is intact. Over time, the porcelain coating can crack, chip or wear off unless you are really careful when you handle it. At the time of cleaning, it is better to use brass bristles in place of metal scrapers with hard edges.

Stainless cooking grates for grills are less durable than cast iron; however, with good care, these can also last a long time. You also get steel grates coated with porcelain just like cast iron grates coated with porcelain. One problem, however, is that these grates are quite thin and too widely spaced to hold heat. While this does not really affect smoking or indirectly cooking huge portions of meat, for more details visit to www.chef-123.com beef, steaks and chops could pose an issue since you will not get those attractive grill marks. Serious chefs prefer wider grates.

If you compare stainless cooking grates for grills, porcelain enameled cast iron cooking grates and porcelain coated cast iron grates, porcelain coated cast iron grates let you cook at lower temperatures because there is longer retention of heat. Stainless steel grates come with the longest warranty followed by porcelain coated cast iron grates and the porcelain enameled ones.

Generally, it is better to buy stainless cooking grates for bbq grills so that they are not prone to rust. Often we find barbecue grills that are perfect with all the features we want at a price that is hard to refuse, yet does not have the kind of grate we want. In such cases, you can always check with the manufacturer. For example, you can opt for Weber porcelain enameled cast iron cooking grates that give you the advantage of long lasting grates that retain excellent heat and are supposed to be easy to maintain. But most weekend barbecuers feel that it is hard to keep it seasoned because they get so heated. This manufacturer also offers the option of choosing stainless cooking grates for the grills. These are easy to clean before cooking. By coating them with oil, you can keep food from sticking to it. Importantly, the grill marks are prominent. Another big advantage of stainless steel is its lightweight property making it easy to handle particularly while adding wood or briquettes to your smoker box. Stainless steel is also a good material for camping cooking grates.

About the Author

www.150-venison-recipes.com

www.cheese-cake-recipes.com

Weber 9869 Stainless Steel Replacement Cooking Grates

 

Cooking Grates

Summer Cooking and Acid Reflux

The summer season provides a cornucopia of delicious vegetables, fruits and herbs.  Preparing meals during this wonderful season presents boundless opportunities to prepare easily digestible food.   This is particularly important to those who suffer from acid reflux.

The tomato, which many consider the quintessential fruit of summer, has long been given a bad rap.  Thought of as acidic in nature, many people who experience acid reflux shun the tomato like the plague.  When tomatoes are slowly over cooked to produce a thick sauce they do become extremely acidic.   When served raw in their natural state tomatoes, however, are sweet and alkaline.

My all time favorite tomato recipe is quite simple and easy to prepare.  Made with slices of tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil, it is better known in Italy as Caprese Salad (in the style of Capri).  It is the starter listed below for my favorite summer meal.

Cooking outdoors is an American summer tradition.  It is liberating to get out of the kitchen to cook and the clean up is much easier.  My favorite main dish of summer is chicken.  I buy a “natural” bird to start with.  I then butterfly it by cutting close to the backbone from tail to neck, flip it over and press it down, dry it with paper towels and season it.  This makes a much nicer presentation than just grilling loose pieces of chicken.

I live in a log cabin on a mountain top in rural Pennsylvania.  Because we have so many bear and other creatures who share our love of outdoor cooking, we confine those activities to the deck using a Weber gas grill with a cover.   In order to create that real woodsy flavor of a traditional barbeque, we use one of those metal wood chip boxes filled with oak, mesquite or hickory.  The oak is free.  Twigs and branches fall out of the trees in the back yard.  I like to mix these woods together to produce a unique smoke flavor.  I call this cooking technique “grill-a-quing”, because you are combining grilling with barbequing and smoking.

Of course, the chicken can be cooked in the traditional manner over coals or wood.  The secret is to start off with high heat in order to seal the bird.  When the fat starts to flare up, the heat must be brought down to low.  The objective it to keep the juices in while making the skin very crisp.  This is more easily controlled when using a gas grill with a cover.

A three and one half to four pounder can require up to two hours to fully cook.  While the chicken is slowly cooking filling the air with enticing flavors, I have time to make the final arrangements for dinner.  When the chicken is done it is crispy on the outside and moist and juicy inside.  It is almost impossible to resist eating the skin.  I always have a just little piece of skin off the thigh to satisfy that urge.  I present the butterflied chicken on a carving board and serve the portions upon request.  If you can’t pull it apart with your fingers, then it has not cooked enough.

I like to serve the chicken with a garden salad, utilizing as many ingredients as possible.  We grow herbs and vegetables on the decks in large terracotta clay pots.  It is very convenient to just walk out the French doors onto the deck and harvest what you will need for the salad while the bird is cooking.

If you want carbs, make a simple pasta primavera with the vegetables using penne or even orzo.  Toss with oil, vinegar and fresh herbs like oregano and set aside.   This dish is perfectly fine served at room temperature.

To complete this meal, I like to serve a simple dessert featuring whatever fruits are in season.  Local berries or ripe peaches are always delicious.  I like to serve them over lemon pound cake with a dollop of whipped cream.  In Pennsylvania we have local apples in late summer.  My favorite dessert is a puff pastry apple tart with apricot rum glaze.  This is so easy to make, yet looks quite impressive to eagerly awaiting appetites.  If you opt for the apple tart, you will have to bake it earlier in the day.  Let it cool and place it in a cold oven to keep the pastry crispy.

Bon Appetite!

CAPRESE SALAD

Ingredients:

Four Ripe tomatoes (about two pounds), sliced thin (¼ inch)

Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper

One pound of fresh mozzarella sliced about the same as tomatoes

One cup chiffonade of fresh Basil (stack basil leave, roll up and cut into thin slices)

Extra virgin olive oil (first cold pressed)

¼ cup chopped fresh chives

Directions:

Arrange the tomato slices on a serving platter.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle half the basil on the tomatoes and cover with slices of mozzarella.  Drizzle more olive oil and sprinkle more basil over the mozzarella.  Garnish dish with chopped chives.  Hold at room temperature before serving just long enough to allow the cheese to soften and meld with the tomato juices.  Serve with warm crusty bread for sopping up the juices.

GRILL-A-QUED BUTTERFLIED CHICKEN

Ingredients:

Grill spray

Wood chips (oak, apple, mesquite or hickory)

3 ½ – 4 pound natural chicken (butterflied as explained above)

Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper

Directions:

Spray clean grill thoroughly with oil and fill the metal wood box with pieces of wood (the wood does not need to be soaked in water).  Ignite entire grill at the highest setting.  Meanwhile remove excess fat from chicken and season chicken on both sides with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper to taste.  When the wood starts to smoke and the grill is very hot, place the seasoned chicken breast side up on the cooking grates.  Wait a few minutes and when fat flares up adjust heat to the lowest setting.  Continue to cook, checking periodically, until the skin is quite crisp and the joints are easily moved (about an hour and a half to two hours) .  The chicken should be well done but not dried out.  When you see that the flesh can be easily pulled apart, carefully move the chicken to a cutting board.  Allow fifteen minutes for the juices to set up before serving.  The secret to making this dish is “seal and slow”.  You do not want the flames that might flare up as fat is being expelled to burn the skin of the chicken.  If this does occur, open the lid of the cooker until they subside.  Natural chickens have less fat.

PUFF PASTRY APPLE TART WITH APRICOT RUM GLAZE

Ingredients:

One sheet of puff pastry (thawed)

Three or four tart apples (Braeburn, Fuji or Gala) peeled, halved, cored and sliced into very thin pieces

Juice of one lemon

Three tablespoons fine white sugar

Cinnamon

One quarter cup apricot jam

One quarter cup dark rum

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare apples and place in work bowl.  Toss lightly with lemon juice.  Thaw puff pastry according to directions.   Place jam and rum in a deep microwave safe bowl partially covered with plastic wrap.  Heat until boiling, but not over flowing so that the alcohol in the rum evaporates and forms a glaze.   Set aside.  Line a 12” x 18” baking sheet with parchment paper.  Roll out pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to make a bit thinner.   Fold the edges of the pastry over to form a border of about ½ inch on all sides of the rectangle.  Place the sliced apples overlapping each other in alternating vertical rows to cover pastry sheet, keeping the rows within the border.  Dust with sugar and cinnamon.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until pastry is golden and apples are tender.  With a pastry brush, apply the glaze over the apples (reheat the glaze if necessary).  Serve with crème fraiche, whipped cream or ice cream.  A sprig of mint and a few raspberries make a terrific garnish with each serving.

All courses represent a serving for four.

For free recipes, articles and information about acid reflux, please visit:  www.refluxgoneforever.com

About the Author

Charles Stewart Richey lives and works in a log cabin on the top of a mountain, wedged between the Lackawaxen and Delaware Rivers. Besides being a writer, he is also well known as an actor, musician and published composer of music under the nom d’ plume, Jeremy Wind. He is also an ardent naturalist.

Mr. Richey is a self-educated expert on how to cure acid reflux disease, by natural means and has written an extensive report entitled, “REFLUX GONE FOREVER, Natural Acid Reflux Remedies”. He explains how the proper application of herbs, health store items, meditation, diet and exercise can heal acid reflux, gerd and heartburn, without the use of drugs.

For information on how to heal acid reflux the natural way, go to: http://www.refluxgoneforever.com

are you supposed to peel fresh ginger when cooking with it?

i am making bombay potatoes and it says you are supposed to grate the ginger, but are you supposed to peel it first?

Ginger is a Very Hard Root ! Yes! Peel it first and then slice mince or grate it!

Pumpkin revisited: Spicing up the taste of autumn
Pumpkin is one of the most traditional tastes of fall, but don’t be afraid to spice it up with these non-traditional recipes.

Free Standing Fire Pit -2 Cooking Grates

Cooking Tutorials….

« Previous12345...1920Next »

[cjniche keywords="Cooking Grates" listing="10"]